Tuesday Matinees: Merz Trio – Ink Spills
Tuesday | December 7 2021 | 2 pm
“Riveting" ... "stunning virtuosity and ensemble work” … “fresh and surprising interpretations” – Reading Eagle
VINCENT SCOTTO & JOSEPHINE BAKER – Sous les ponts de Paris (Under the bridges of Paris, 1913)
arr. Merz Trio
JEAN-PHILIPPE RAMEAU – Pieces for Harpsichord in Concert (1741) – Fifth "Concert" in D Minor, RCT 11
arr. Merz Trio
LILI BOULANGER – Three Pieces (1914)
D'un vieux jardin (In an old garden)
arr. Merz Trio
GABRIEL FAURÉ – Piano Trio in D minor, Op. 120 (1923)
MAURICE RAVEL – Piano Trio in A minor (1914)
1. Modéré
LEE DIONNE – Zortziko - Fandango (2020)
MAURICE RAVEL – Piano Trio in A minor
MÉLANIE BONIS – Two Pieces (1907)
NADIA BOULANGER – Heures ternes (Stagnant hours, 1910)
arr. Merz Trio
MAURICE RAVEL – Piano Trio in A minor
Inspired by Merz Trio's 2021 debut album “INK,” Ink Spills offers a unique and personal account of Ravel’s Piano Trio, a work he finished penning in 1914 at a time of immense catastrophe and change for Europe and the world. Ranging from the court of Louis XV to the 21st century, the program places Ravel not only within an immensely rich, multinational tradition (French and Basque), but also includes a number of works from the immediate decades around the Trio's composition, interweaving the work with pieces Ravel himself would have known and heard. Throughout the concert, Merz Trio's members will contribute readings of poetry and prose that further illuminate the music and speak to the era.
Merz Trio are First Prize winners at the 2021 Naumburg International Chamber Music Competition. Composed of players hailed as “impressive” (New York Times), “impeccable” (Fanfare Magazine), and praised for “a sense of joyful virtuosity” (South Florida Classical Review), Merz Trio has quickly emerged as a unique and award-winning ensemble, garnering the First Prize at the 2019 Fischoff Competition and the 2019 Concert Artists Guild Competition, and the First Prize and Audience Prize at the 2018 Chesapeake Competition. Seamlessly tacking between traditional repertoire, the music of our time and their own arrangements, the Trio are committed to vibrantly dynamic programming that takes them beyond the concert hall into theaters, galleries and community spaces. The Trio are known for their wide-ranging collaborations and interdisciplinary work, bringing music into conversation with other art forms ranging from dance to the culinary arts.
